Thursday, June 28, 2012

Istanbul's island of Büyükada
is known for its ornamental mansions, horse-drawn faytons and abundant fish restaurants.

It's not necessarily known for the hundreds of cats that call
Büyükada
home, but I couldn't help but take tons of photos of these furry felines
yesterday.

The day started out with
cloudy skies and patches of drizzly rain, so my desire to lay out on beach was
crushed. Instead, my girlfriend and I strolled around the friendly island; or
as I like to say "Let's do some gezmek-ing." (Gezmek is
the Turkish word for to stroll.)

If you are lucky enough to get
away from the crowds on Büyükada, you suddenly feel like you're transported to
a different era far away from the hustle and bustle of Istanbul.

Here's a couple photos of
the island's cats that captured my attention.
Enjoy!

Monday, June 25, 2012

Last night, we had just sat down at a restaurant in the Asmalı Mescit neighborhood ofBeyoğlu. I ordered a glass of white wine, then suddenly heard whistles, drums and lots of people nearby. What was going on?

Of course, I wanted to find out so I grabbed my purse and told our waiter in my best Turkish that I'd be back in a minute. I'm sure he thought I was some crazy yabancı, but that's nothing new.

Once on Istiklal Caddesi, I saw the rainbow flags and LGBTT banners and realized I was in the midst of a gay pride parade in Istanbul.

June 24, 2012 Gay Pride Parade in Istanbul

I was surprised to see thousands of demonstrators chanting about gay rights in Turkish. I'm sure standing up for gay rights in a predominantly Muslim world isn't easy. So huge kudos to everyone who had the courage to do so yesterday!

I actually didn't find anything about this event in the Turkish news this morning.

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Using Turkish Kiraz to make Limonata

Cherries,
from bright red to sunset orange, are everywhere right now in Istanbul.

I
love cherries, but sometimes I forget I have them in the fridge. So the other
day, I came across a bunch of kinda mushy kiraz
and decided to cook them in a simple syrup.

Mountains of cherries at the pazar and manav in Istanbul.

At
first, I was thinking of making a refreshing lemonade or limonata as the drink is called here in Turkey. Restaurants charge
as much as 12 tl for this drink, but I made enough limonata mix for 4 drinks for about half that price.

Making
this cherry-lemonade mix from scratch is fairly easy - a similar method to my Homemade Ginger Ale recipe.

If
you want a fun summer cocktail instead, just replace some of the sparkling
water or soda water with vodka (which you have stored in the freezer, of
course).

What's
your favorite way to use summer's bounty of cherries?

Afiyet olsun!

Sipping my pretty cherry-lemonade cocktail at home.

Cherry-Lemonade
Cocktail

Ingredients:

1
c. (210 g.) granulated
sugar

1 c. (240
ml.) water

About
1 lb. or 500 g. fresh
cherries, rinsed but not pitted

Juice half a
lemon

As
needed: Sparkling water (I used UludağDoğal Zengin
Mineralli Su) or soda water

Chilled vodka

Ice cubes

Lime wedges

In
a medium-sized pot, add the sugar, water, cherries and lemon juice. Cook over
medium-high heat until the sugar dissolves, stirring often. I let my mixture
come to a boil and then pulled the pot off the heat.

Let
the mixture cool until it is room temperature.

Then,
strain the mixture, pressing down on the cherries to extract as much liquid as
possible; or strain the mixture through cheesecloth. The cherry syrup can be
used now or stored in a clean container in the refrigerator for later use. I
prefer to have a chilled syrup.

To make a glass
of Cherry-Lemonade Cocktail:

1/4 c. (60
ml.) cherry syrup

1/4 c. (60
ml.) fresh lemon juice

1/4 c. (60
ml.) chilled vodka

Fill
a cocktail shaker with these ingredients and a couple of ice cubes. Shake together. Pour into a glass.

Then
top off your glass with 1/4 c. (60 ml.) sparkling water or soda water.

(HINT:
do not add the fizzy water to your martini shaker like I did at first because
it will make a HUGE mess! That's why hubby is generally the bartender.)

Garnish
with a lime wedge.

To
make a non-alcoholic drink, substitute 1/2 c. (120 ml.) sparkling water or soda
water for the vodka.

Now,
take your cocktail or normal limonata
and imagine you are on the beach. At least, that's what I did.

Monday, June 18, 2012

As
soon as I saw this familiar pile of red and green peppers at the pazar,
I asked if they were hot peppers in Turkish.

Somehow,
I had stumbled upon a gigantic pile of REAL jalapeños at the Saturday
pazar in Beşiktaş in Istanbul.
This is the first time, in my two years of living here, I have found REAL jalapeños at
the pazar!

About 6 tl per kilo!

Immediately,
I asked the pazar stall
next door, overflowing with fresh herbs and lettuces, if he had taze kışnış (fresh cilantro). My
husband secured the cilantro while I picked up my jalapeños.

Moments
like these rarely happen here. Usually, I have to go to several markets/stores
to find all my ingredients. It's not easy finding Mexican, Indian or Asian
ingredients in Istanbul. However, I have started seeing more and more foreign
ingredients appear at the large grocery stores.

Hot sauces galore at the REAL Merkezi in Fulya, Istanbul.

Here
are some substitutes I've made for Mexican ingredients while living in Turkey:

· cilantro
(kışnış) - Sometimes you are lucky to
find it at a pazar. Check your
large grocery stores such as MacroCenter, REAL or Carrefour.

· acı
biber (hot pepper) = jalapenos

· suzme yoğurt = sour cream

· Turkish lavaş = flour tortillas

· pul biber = ground hot pepper
flakes

· kaşar peynir = cheddar cheese

And
the best substitute yet is using nacho cheese-flavored Doritos for tortilla
chips! Generally, MacroCenter carries bags of tortilla chips (for 12 tl), but
it would've have taken me nearly an hour to go there and back again.

As
an expat, you learn to adapt. Expats
learn to improvise. And you learn you can still make delicious tasting food
with different ingredients.

So
I prepared my Turkish ingredients for a complete Mexican meal at our apartment
in Istanbul. Hubby played the role of bartender, making us homemade
nar-garitas, and as my dishwasher.

As
you can see, we had lovely Turk-Mex meal of chicken soft tacos and all the
fixings, salsa and spicy corn.

Afiyet olsun!

Grilled Chicken
Marinade Ingredients:

Marinades
are generally an oil mixed with some spices or a mixture of oil, an acid and
some spices. I went with the latter option this time.

1
1/2 lb. (750 g.)
boneless chicken thighs or breasts

1/3
c.
sunflower or vegetable oil

1/4
c.
fresh lime juice

4-6
ea.
garlic cloves, finely chopped

1
T.
fresh parsley, finely chopped (or substitute fresh cilantro)

1
tsp.
cumin

1
tsp.
dried oregano

1
tsp. pul biber (I used a bit of ground
chili ancho pepper I have from the US.)

1/2
tsp.
salt

1/4
tsp.
ground black pepper

Combine
the marinade ingredients in a medium-sized bowl. Cover the chicken with the
marinade and let rest in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.

Then,
use an outdoor grill or indoor grill pan to cook the chicken. I used my indoor
grill pan, turned the chicken once, and it took about 15 minutes. Slice the
chicken into small strips.

Serve
the chicken strips on a platter with warmed tortillas and your favorite
taco fixings.

Spicy Corn Side
Dish

1
T.
sunflower oil

1
ea.
medium onion, diced small

1
ea.
garlic clove, diced small

1
ea. jalapeño, diced
small

1
ea.
red pepper, diced small

1
ea.
green pepper, diced small

1
pkg. (500
g.)
frozen corn

1/2
c.
water

1
T.
fresh cilantro, finely chopped

1
tsp.
cumin

As
needed
salt, pul biber, black pepper

1
T.
butter

In
a medium saucepan, heat the oil. Add the onion, garlic, jalapeño, red and
green pepper. Sauté until softened,
about 6-8 minutes.

Thursday, June 14, 2012

This
week, in Istanbul,
"Her gün nemli, sıcak." (Every
day is hot, humid.)

As
soon as I step outside after showering, I'm sweating.

At
the end of the day, my flip-flop feet are blackened from the dusty city streets
so I take another shower at night.

How
I long to be at a beach or swimming pool! All our friends are talking about
their summer vacations here in Turkey. We don't have any beach trips planned -
yet!

Soon,
a good friend is going to spend a relaxing weekend in the Çeşme
and Alaçatı
area, which reminded me of our fun weekend there last summer. I never really
posted any photos from that trip, so I thought I'd share some now.

We
loved staying at the Alaçatı
Zeytin Konak Otel. This small boutique hotel is the perfect
place to use as a base to explore the Çeşme Peninsula.

Alaçatı Zeytin Konak Otel's swimming pool at night.

I could stay at this hotel in
Alaçatı just for it's bountiful Turkish breakfast spread and for the local "puffy" bread.

Although
the hotel has two swimming pools, we spent more time on the beach. The only
problem is that many of the area's beaches are set up as beach clubs so you pay
20 to 30 tl per person to lay out on the beach.

However,
my favorite beach we returned to again is Ilica Beach & Cafe, located near
Sheraton Hotel's private beach in Çeşme. Two chairs with an umbrella cost only
24 tl! We had packed our own Turkish towels, raided a nearby bakkal and brought our own beers to the
beach.

This
beach does get crowded, but the chairs are cheap and the Aegean Sea is crystal
clear and warm. The four of us took turns swimming so someone was always
watching our belongings.

Note:
bury your beer in the cold sand. It gets hot quickly and warm Efes is not good!

And
when you get hungry, I highly recommend grabbing a kumru, a local sandwich stuffed with Turkish sausage, melted cheese
and tomatoes, served hot from one of the beach vendors. I love cheese!

Enjoying a Turkish kumru sandwich at the
Ilica Beach & Cafe.

One
sandwich is like 2,000 calories, but washed down with a cold beer on the beach,
it's exactly what you need! (In fact, I'd like to find this sandwich here after
a night out on Istiklal Cad.)

By
following 10 Yıl Caddesi behind the Yedikule fortress, about 1.5 kilometers away, you will find
some of the best köfte in the
Zeytinburnu neighborhood of Istanbul. There's not much along the main road,
which is why this köftecisi is such a
gem of a place.

Like
many of Istanbul's best places to eat, Merkez Efendi Köftecisi is tucked down a
side street. You probably wouldn't know this small restaurant was there unless
someone recommended it or you happened to stumble upon it. We enjoyed lunch
here thanks to the historical tour we did with Friends of American Research Institute Turkey
(FARIT).

We
started out with a traditional piyaz,
a Turkish bean salad, with onions, parsley, tomatoes, and dressed with olive
oil and vinegar. A bowl of spicy sauce was served on the table so I mixed a
healthy dollop into my plate of piyaz.

These
are just some of the things that have traveled in my suitcases from the US toIstanbul.
(See also related post about traveling fromMunich
to Istanbul.)

When
I recently visited Nebraska,
I was just in time to harvest some of my mom’s rhubarb in the garden. I made a
healthy version of an oat crisp dessert with strawberries, blueberries and
rhubarb. It was delicious!

Then,
I made sure to tell my envious husband justhowdelicious
it was!

As
a pastry chef in the US, rhubarb always signals the beginning of spring. After
a long winter, you’re tired of using citrus fruits, apples, pears and dried
fruits in your desserts. You want color!

Rhubarb,
even though it’s technically a vegetable, gives you that pop of ruby pink
color. And it’s just another thing that’s not available in Istanbul.

Fresh stalks of rhubarb in the U.S.

Well,
there is something calledIşkın, wild Turkish rhubarb, but
I missed the season, and I don’t know if it’s similar to the rhubarb I know and
love or not. Does anyone know?

Toward
the end of my stay in Nebraska, I scored 3 pounds of rhubarb, cut it into
pieces and double wrapped it in plastic freezer bags. I had promised my husband
that I would bring back some rhubarb if I had room. On the morning of my
departure, I carefully stuffed the two bags separately into my two checked
suitcases.

Or
so I thought.

By
the time I arrived back at our apartment in Istanbul, I had traveled through
four airports, flown more than 6,000 miles and been on the road for 24+hours. I
was beat!

But
I still had to unpack the perishables, including the rhubarb.

I
opened my biggest suitcase and soon noticed a pinkish stain on a couple
t-shirts. Then, I saw the stains all over my favorite trench coat!

Despite
my careful planning and packing, the rhubarb, once defrosted, had leaked out of
the plastic bags. Luckily, most of the stains washed out.

Lesson
learned: next time you have a hankering for smuggling fresh rhubarb into
another country, don’t do it!

But
this is how much I love rhubarb. And how much I love my husband because he
loves strawberry-rhubarb pie.

Now
I can laugh about my follies and tell you that my foreign rhubarb combined with
fresh Turkish strawberries makes an excellent pie!

Using a ruler and a pizza cutter, I cut my strips into 3/4-inch pieces.

Then, carefully, weave the strips in between each other following the video's instructions.

Place your perfect pie in a preheated oven at 400 F/200 C. Sprinkle
a little granulated sugar over the top. Bake for 20 minutes.

Then, cover the edges of the pie crust with aluminum foil to
prevent too much browning. Turn the oven down to 350 F/175 C. Bake for 30-40
minutes more until the juices in the pie begin bubbling and your crust is
golden brown.

Remove from oven and let your pie cool down. If you slice
the pie while it is still warm, the filling won’t hold together. I baked my pie
late at night, so I waited until the next day to dig into my pie.

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

But it's also a place where you can see
fancy Ottoman mansions located along the Bosphorus and urban shopping malls as
well as the occasional chicken running across the street in Vefa or Arnavutköy.

You don't have to go far to see signs
of rural life in the city.

Located near the ruins of Yedikule Hisarıand following the Byzantine-era stone walls are small
vegetable gardens and well organized fields of green onions, spinach, lettuce
and more.

A man tends to his field of spinach near the Byzantine walls in Istanbul.

These gardens flourish between the
city's crumbling land walls and the modern paved road on the other side. From
what I understand, the gardens were once some of the main agricultural fields
of Old Istanbul and established after the Ottomans filled in the former defense
ditches and cisterns with soil.

Now, the locals rent these narrow fertile
strips of land from the government and have established what looks like gecekondular (ramshackle houses built
overnight without permits). Families, even with small children, live and farm
here.

Well organized plots, plus a small nursery growing trees.

This was one of the more extensive vegetable stands set up near the walls.

As you walk by the walls, you'll
notice men and women tending to the gardens as well as small market stands set
up on the sidewalks selling their beautiful produce. I have to assume they sell
the vegetables to make a little money and use the rest for their own
consumption.

I mean just look at the veggies here! Several people even had plastic cold frames set up to start their vegetable seedlings when the weather was still cold.

I don't even like radishes, but these looked so colorful and tempting.

Istanbul is full of paradoxes....And this
is one of the best places to see the ancient walls of Istanbul and traditional
farming techniques at the same time.

How to get there:

Just take the suburban train from
Sirkeci to Yedikule and in about 20 minutes, you'll find yourself walking amongst this different world.